I realize your post is almost four months old, but if you are still looking for a house in Lancaster, Pa, please email us. We are moving out of state and have lost a job, so we need to move quickly, which is why lease to own seems like our best option. We LOVE our house, but obviously can't take it with us :), so if you have any interest let us know!

Email me! We are trying to sell our condo in Lancaster in Clock Towers, and it is not very expensive ($89,000). That is just the price of a nice car!

Your problem is the poor credit I advise to start working on this right away. Some mortgage brokers have specialists that can help you with this however there is no credit fairy .it will take time and commitment.
because of this credit issue you might have a problem renting ,since many landlords will check your credit rating before signing a contract and giving you a key.
M y advise is to find a cheap rental, probably a home that you don't want to buy anyway.live there for 2 years or maybe longer till you have saved some money, payed off some debt and improved your credit rating.
After that you might be able to put money down for a house and buy one..
Having your own house is nice but it brings also maintenance issues, and since it is likely that you would buy an older home there might be very costly surprises that you most likely could not financially handle .
My other advice ; use a realtor that keeps you out of trouble .

Your first step is to get with a mortgage professional to work out a timeline to to have your credit in shape for a home purchase. The YourLancasterHome.com team has in-house mortgage experts ready to help with that...

A lot of buyers are asking me about "lease purchases" these days. A couple of years ago they were not popular due to the speed with which a home in Lancaster would sell. Today, sellers are more willing to entertain the idea. Trouble is, sellers want cash. And more cash. Without a schedule of cash deposits there's not much incentive to wait out the eventual sale to a lease buyer.

I can go into more detail on the lease purchase strategy for buyers - just drop me a note at http://www.YourLancasterhome.com with your contact info. Cheers!

Jeff Geoghan

Hi Brittany,

Good question. Renting and renting to own is more popular right now because of the reasons you already mentioned. Classified ads and sites like Craigslist.com are good sources for these types of opportunities. Another possibility is having a real estate professional search homes for you.

Are you already in Lancaster or moving there in the future?

Craig Wiley